when it comes to changing the world what
I learned from Steve Jobs is if you
believe in a Macintosh if you believe in
iPhone iPod iPad if you believe enough
then you will see it because other
people will believe in it other people
will create software other people will
create products so you need to foster
the belief in what you are dreaming so
that it becomes a reality which is very
different than saying I don’t expect
anybody to believe it until I see it you
need people to believe it before they
can see it because when you’re trying to
differentiate when you’re trying to do
something different there’s going to be
that gut moment that gut sense is this
right is this not right if you’re not if
you’re not having doubt you’re not
pushing the boundaries far enough don’t
necessarily think that you have to have
the homerun and the huge Apple Computer
on your first start I spent a long time
in my life with skills just building
little devices for fun for fun is one of
the key things does that drives you to
think and think and think and make it
better and better and better than you
ever would if you’re doing it for a
company build things at first for
yourself that you would want constantly
seek criticism a a wealth a
well-thought-out critique of whatever
you’re doing is as valuable as gold and
you should seek that from
everyone you can but particularly your
friends you want an idea about what you
can say I know it sounds like a bad idea
but here’s specifically why it’s
actually a great one you want to sound
crazy but you want to actually be right
don’t think about how do I get really
how do I get big fast that will happen
if you actually build something super
meaningful and super important so don’t
think about you know what is the
quickest way to success think about what
is the best way to building something
important that the world really needs
you know one way to conceptualize what
makes a good product is you know good
engineering is part of it good design is
part of it but really it’s one way I
think about it at least is maximizing
the probability that someone shows up at
the front door of you know your store or
your website or or whatever it is and
ends up with a solved problem what you
really need to do is think about what is
the smallest possible test that I can
run for this idea for this concept for
this theory get it out there and get
customers using it because your
customers are gonna be the ones to tell
you if it’s really working or not a lot
of people kind of mean they say well I
want to be an entrepreneur and I go
that’s great what’s your idea and they
go well I don’t have one yet and I say
well I think you should go get a job as
a busboy or something until you find
something you’re really passionate about
because it’s a lot of work and I’m
convinced that about half of what
separates the successful entrepreneurs
from the non successful ones is pure
perseverance it is so hard you pour so
much your life into this thing there are
such rough moments in time that most
people give up I don’t blame them it’s
really tough and it consumes your life I
mean if you’re if you’ve got a family
and you’re in the early days of a
company it’s I can’t imagine how one
could do it I’m sure it’s been done but
it’s rough I mean because it’s a pretty
much a you know an 18 hour day job seven
days a week for a while so unless you
have a lot of passion about this you’re
going to not survive you’re going to
give it up
so you got to have an idea of or a
problem or a wrong that you want to
write that you’re passionate about
otherwise you’re not going to have the
person
to stick it through and I think that’s
half the battle right there it’s hard to
remember how bad it was
you know in 1980s with IBM taking over
the world with the PC with Doss out
there it was it was far worse than the
Apple 2 and they tried to copy the Apple
2 and they done a pretty bad job and if
you needed to know a lot and so things
were kind of slipping backwards and
Macintosh was you saw the 1984
commercial you put that I hope you have
that in your archives
you know Macintosh was basically this
this relatively small company you know
in Cupertino California taking on the
Goliath IBM and saying wait a minute
your way is wrong this is not the way we
want computers to go this is not the
legacy we want to leave this is not what
we want our kids to be learning this is
wrong and we are going to show you the
right way to do it and here it is it’s
called Macintosh and this is so much
better that it’s gonna beat you and we
are gonna do it
and that’s what Apple stood for and if
you’re really trying to achieve
something then so to say hey here’s my
vision and I’d like to say be obstinate
about your vision but be really flexible
about your tactics what does that mean
it’s sort of like think big act small
what that means is it’s important to
have a vision of where you’re trying to
go how you get there is a series of
experiments now you can call them a
failure is when they don’t work but
they’re learning experiments where you
try things see what works try the next
thing there are no justified resentments
and this is a very difficult principle
for many people to get but one that I
believe very strongly in I was in a
group one time of drug addicts and
alcoholics
and I was one of the people that was a
sponsor and leading this group and the
sign on the wall said there are no
justified resentments in this group and
what I said to that group that that
night was no matter what anybody says to
you here no matter what kind of anger
comes directed towards you no matter how
much hate you may encounter showing up
in your life there are no justified
resentments meaning that if you carry
around resentment inside of you about
anything or about anyone and I’m talking
about the person that you lent money to
and hasn’t paid you back I’m talking
about the person in your life that you
feel was abusive in your life I’m
talking about the person who walked out
on you and left you for somebody else
I’m talking about all of the things that
you have justified in your heart and in
your life that you have the right to be
resentful about and I’m suggesting to
you that those resentments will always
end up harming you and creating in you a
sense of despair I’ve often said that
you no one ever dies from a snake bite a
snake bite will never kill you you
cannot be unbeaten once you’re bitten
you’re bitten but it’s the venom that
continues to pour through your system
after the bite that will end up
destroying you what are you gonna do
when you wake up and you feel lost you
feel less than you feel you feel a sense
of either depression or despair and no
direction what I do is this
I show up I show up man
buddy mine told me when I was hit
super low point in my life he said a man
show up even if your life’s if your eyes
are bleeding and your life is low show
up anyway show up for somebody aspiring
to you know take things to the next
level or to even surpass their wildest
dreams there’s always gonna have to be
an element of luck but I think more
important is putting yourself in a
business that can be ubiquitous that
that can that really doesn’t have limits
because otherwise there’s always going
to be a grind to it
but if the business if it can’t be
something that you can visualize every
business using or every consumer using
it’s gonna be tough to scale to be big
enough or to have the perceived value
this little idea explains why some
organizations and some leaders are able
to inspire where others aren’t let me
define the terms really quickly every
single person every single organization
on the planet knows what they do 100
percent some know how they do it when
you call it you’re differentiating value
proposition or your proprietary process
or your USP but very very few people or
organizations know why they do what they
do and by why I don’t mean to make a
profit that’s a result it’s always a
result by why I mean what’s your purpose
what’s your cause what’s your belief why
does your organization exist you know
there are a lot of things that are
outside of your control a lot of
external circumstances will depend like
determine the success of your idea
whether you know the market timings
right for this new kind of service or
whether people you know whether or
customer like the economy’s could write
for for your kind of service right
whether you meet the right people who
will finance your company many many
external circumstances are like outside
of your control and like but will affect
the outcome
you have to like be okay with that but
you know a lot of corporations have they
might call them core values or guiding
principles or so on but the problem is
usually they’re very lofty sounding they
kind of read like a press release the
marketing department put out they sound
just like their competitors and maybe
you learn about it on day one of your
job but then it becomes this meaningless
plaque on the lobby wall well we wanted
to come up with committable core values
and by committable meaning we’re willing
to hire or fire people based on those
values completely independent of their
actual job performance the definition of
values is they’re the behaviors or
principles that you religiously adhere
to within your company when we say
religious I mean that no amount of data
will sway you in it from from those
principles and the degree to which that
you have the courage to maintain your
conviction around those ideas is the
degree to which you’re going to be
successful over the long term
you can’t ever sort of balance two
completely contradictory things as a
means of hedging you have to decide what
are you going to believe in and put all
of your energy behind that and that’s
that’s the those are the kinds of
strategic decisions and trade-offs that
you make every day as an entrepreneur
and it’s important that you create the
level of clarity and conviction to go
after an opportunity that isn’t hedging
you know lots of different ideas or lots
of different approaches because that’s
the surest way that you’ll never be good
at it sort of anything I’m not saying
you shouldn’t have a vision for your
idea or your product but you need to be
open to changes we get to create any
company we want right we get to create
the reason for its existence we get to
create the rules of the game and who we
hire and how we hire them and who can
stay and who can stay right it’s it’s
beautiful and so I just would encourage
everyone that as we all contemplate life
to try to question the assumptions that
we live by and the default options that
are given to us and expand our thinking
to wonder what we really can’t do with
our lives and so when we see a kid with
a lemonade stand it’s different than
when we see a vending machine selling
lemonade even if it’s exactly the same
product because the story
around it is what people are paying for
so when I meet small businesspeople
all I ask them is not what’s their
balance sheet but what’s their story why
should I pick you why do I care about
what you’re doing
and if you start giving me all this
inside baseball statistics about why
you’re 2 percent better than some other
competitor I’m already glazed over
because that’s not part of the way I see
the world knew I was wired to be excited
about business how or why I don’t know
but you know and do certain guys they
have the genetics to jump out of the gym
right certain guys you know that
you know when they golf they have the
muscle memory and and the discipline you
know Dirk Nowitzki may not be the most
talented guy in the NBA but his
discipline and his focus to do what’s
necessary to be successful he’s willing
to do and combine it with being seven
feet tall and being skilled you know it
makes him an amazing basketball player
so it’s understanding what your skill
set is finding the right place to use
those skills and then going for it you
know will that make you 250 grand it
depends if you pick the right industry
but whatever industry you pick if you
outwork everybody if you try to be a
little smarter than everybody if you try
to be a better salesperson and everybody
if you try to be better prepared than
everybody you’ve got your best chance
because if you don’t do it and somebody
else does yeah I have the same work like
someone’s trying to take it all away
from you you know work you actually work
like no one’s spending 24 hours working
24 hours to take it all away from you in
and that’s kind of the way I look at it
and I remember asking my dad to I want a
new basketball shoes because that was a
basketball junkie back then he’s like
well your shoes work if you want a new
pair of tennis shoes you have to go out
there and get a job and I’m like dad I’m
12 years old and it’s just so happens he
was playing poker with his buddies and
one of his buddies just like well I got
a job for you you I’ve got these garbage
bags that we distribute you could sell
them door-to-door I’m like okay and it
was when I was selling them and realized
that I’d like to sell and that I could
sell and that I recognized that selling
was was about providing a service and
creating value for people that I knew
that I would literally back then
I knew that I could always succeed I
mean I remember I was 16 I think when I
started a stamp company and started
going to stamp shows and trade shows and
just working a little bit harder than
other people and and trading up from one
stamp to the next I remember one time I
started with a quarter and bought a
stamp and left with $50 thinking hey if
I can do this I could do anything and
and it’s not that everything worked I
failed a lot but I never ever felt like
I I wouldn’t be able to work hard enough
to say that I have to want this to exist
in the world I have to not so it’s a
similar rule just say if this was
successful and I had nothing and I got
no and I was not involved and I got no
money off it or wasn’t what I wanted to
do well and that’s a great check I think
to know if you really feel good about
the idea and can be passionate about it
the hardest thing to do is start you
have all these ideas and everyone has an
idea but it’s really about executing the
idea and building the idea and
attracting other people to help you work
on the idea that is the biggest
challenge but the way to begin is to get
the idea out of your head draw it out
you know talk about it program it if
you’re a programmer or make it if you’re
building something and oftentimes the
best methodology is to start with the
perfect experience of just one person
get that right and then figure out how
to scale something great instead of
scales I mean not so great and then
trying to improve it that’s really hard
to do and so I think when you are
starting a new business you uh you don’t
want to go after giant markets you want
to go after small markets and you want
to take over those markets quickly like
you don’t have to be the best but you
have to be dangerous right you have to
learn just enough to be dangerous to
build an idea concept it and show it to
the world and then it turns out there
are lots of other people including all
170 employees that work at Instagram who
are much better at doing all that stuff
than I am but you’d need to find people
who can you know be drawn to the idea
that you build and and then they end up
taking it and and make it even better
I think you should be spending your
money on on on teaching and sharing
that might mean hiring a writer too
perhaps instead of a marketing person
you know and start writing and start
getting people to listen to what you’re
saying you can’t talk about yourself all
the time because I was going to come
back for that we get to talk about
things that are relevant to your
industry or ideas that you have and
start to build that audience up if
you’re not utilizing an online community
then you’re at a disadvantage to those
who are you can be asking online
community that’s what they think about
your ideas or if they have any advice
with what you’re working on not only
will you hear from people who are
passionate about the subject but you’ll
be hearing from people all around the
world each with their own experiences
and stories that can help you and there
are a lot of people from whom we can
learn a lot and I think like you know
the one piece of advice is like don’t
underestimate anyone you come across
everybody like whether they’re you know
a blue collar worker waiting for the bus
or they’re you know helping you at your
they’re the server a bartender at the
restaurant or they’re a lower-ranking
employee I mean the smartest leaders
I’ve ever seen have always gone around
the room and asked for everybody’s
opinion people really love simplicity so
if you look at the problems with large
software like Microsoft Office every
feature in Microsoft Office somebody
wanted at some time but what happens is
over 10 or 20 years the thing gets so
huge it’s overwhelming so the discipline
of great product design is to figure out
what are the important cases for the
long term and to have the discipline to
say no to some things that are good it’s
easy to say no to things that are bad
but great product design is saying no to
some things that are good in my mind as
I think about this idea of getting what
you really want and being able to
attract it into your life
what what what we have to look at is
basically the obstacles that we have
conditioned ourselves and you notice I
say that we have conditioned ourselves
because I have never believed that we
need to be putting the responsibility on
someone else if you’re conditioned it’s
because you have allowed yourself to
become that and if we are conditioned if
we conditioned ourselves to believe
certain kinds of things and one of the
things that we kind of believe
even hang on to and live with is this
whole idea that all of the things that
happened to me in my past are what are
keeping me from doing what I’d like to
do today so we hang on to these things
and we fill ourselves with blame is they
I’m the middle child I’m the youngest
child I’m the oldest child I’m an only
child any one of those is a great excuse
you know if you’re the youngest child
you can say well you know I never how
could I be making decisions for myself
and be a full look for a fully
functioning person today when I always
had somebody else telling me what to do
my whole life how could I think for
myself if you’re the oldest child you
can simply say to yourself well how
could I be expected to think for myself
I always had to think for somebody else
I was always doing it for somebody else
and that leaves the middle child
you know the classic identity crisis oh
poor me my mother didn’t even know my
name she’s always calling me by this
one’s name but that one’s name so I
don’t know where I fit in
so that take care of everybody except
the only child and of course the only
child well your parents looked at you
and said we won’t be doing that again
you have to live with that I don’t I so
everybody with their birth order or with
their mother like their sister better or
that we had enough but we didn’t have
enough and we had too much or we lived
in the north we lived in the south I’m
too tall I’m too short I’ve got too much
hair I don’t have enough hair it’s
falling out it’s not falling out
whatever it is we all have these excuses
and I call all of these things that we
hang on to and use to keep ourselves
from reaching these higher places in our
lives the wake I call it the wake and
the wake
is comes from a story that I heard Alan
Watts tell one time it was a very
powerful story he said your life is like
a boat and it’s heading up the river
let’s say 40 knots and as it’s going you
are somehow able to metaphorically stand
on the stern the back of the boat and
look down into the water now there goes
your life in this direction and you’re
standing here and you’re looking down
into the water and you ask yourself
these three questions the first question
what is the wake what is it what is this
thing that you see and the answer the
wake is the trail that is left behind
that’s what it is nothing more nothing
less
it’s the trail that is left behind
second question to ask yourself in this
little metaphor what’s driving the boat
what’s making this thing go in this
direction
the answer the present moment energy
that’s being generated by the engine and
nothing more
that’s the only thing that’s making the
boat go in this direction and in this
little scene this means it’s the present
moment thoughts that I have and how I am
using them that is making my life go in
this direction and nothing more because
the third question is the most important
and powerful question and I’ve ever ever
since I heard it I’ve always thought
about this whenever I have a tendency to
look back here and blame something is it
possible for the wake to drive the boat
that is Hannah trail that is left behind
make a boat go in this direction and of
course the answer to that is no it can’t
it’s just a trail that is left behind
and in that trail there are an enormous
number of things that every one of us
has awake and we have a whole lot of
stuff in it and one of the problems that
we have is that we have a tendency to
look at the wake and all of the stuff
that’s in it to explain why it is my
life isn’t working the way I would like
it to work how do you think about making
a decision when everyone tells you this
is a crazy idea where do you get the
internal strength to do that well first
of all I’d say I actually think I feel
feel fair quite strongly so it’s not as
though I just have the absence of fear
I’ve I feel it quite strongly but there
are times when if something is important
enough you believe in it enough that you
do it in spite of the fear so speaking
of important things like people
shouldn’t think III I should think well
I feel fear about this and therefore I
shouldn’t do it it’s normal to feel to
feel fear like you’d have to definitely
something mentally wrong you shouldn’t
feel fear
so you just feel it and let the
importance of it anyway yeah you know
actually something that can be helpful
as fatalism some degree if you just
think if just accept the probabilities
then that diminishes fear so my starting
SpaceX I thought the odds of success
were less than 10% and I just accepted
that actually probably I would just lose
lose everything
but that maybe would make some progress
if we could just move the ball forward
even if we died maybe some other company
could pick up the baton and move and
keep moving forward so that were still
do some good
yeah same with Tesla I thought your odds
of a car company succeeding were
extremely low I do think that one thing
that’s important is especially if you’re
a founder or a technical founder is to
realize that you can’t do everything and
even if you can you shouldn’t values are
who you are right you don’t have
personal values professional values it’s
really what you stand for and again
there’s no black and white answer here
there’s no right or wrong value but if
you’re building a team or building an
organization you want to understand your
identity and then it mostly impacts
hiring it impacts the way that you
decide to add people to your team
otherwise you can become very very split
in terms of what your mission is so
there are a number of decisions that we
make every day and on a product side
there are billion different features
that we could make so the hard part is
really choosing which ones to focus on
which ones to build and you only have a
finite number that you can’t actually
execute on so for us a lot of it is just
listening to the community and more
importantly understanding you know what
features they’re asking for but why are
they asking for these specific things
what’s the root problem they’re trying
to solve or goal that you’re trying to
achieve and a lot of that is based on
actual behaviors so not just what they
say but what they do you should find a
great partner no matter what it is that
you’re doing and you should look for
someone who is very high intelligence
very high energy and very high integrity
and you need all three of those you
can’t compromise on any one of them
otherwise you’ll end up with either
someone was not smart which is you know
good or someone’s not hard-working which
also doesn’t know good or the worst case
is you end up with smart hard-working
crook who ends up working against your
interests and integrity something that
takes a lot of time spent with someone
to figure out
generally speaking you should resist the
temptation of having too many features
it’s all about either solving a problem
or providing a value to a user one of
the things I advise entrepreneurs to do
is when you have an idea a classic
entrepreneurial impulse is to hold the
idea close to you and not go tell you
because all the idea is so special right
that’s almost always a mistake and go
talk to why is that a mistake yeah it’s
a mistake because your actual real
competitive advantage is not that you
have this idea that you have locked away
in your closet which may or may not be
actor
you have no idea which it is your actual
competitive advantages if you’re
assembling the intelligence around does
this idea work what is the right team
what is the right learnings and we’re
essentially in motion most startups that
fail do it ultimately because they did
not make something that people wanted
they made something that you know that
they thought people would want but they
were either in denial about it about you
know whether it was actually any good or
somebody else came along and made
something that people wanted even more
everybody thought we were crazy we
probably were crazy but having a dream
like that that resonates with people
changing the world achieving something
big it turns out that’s what pulls you
through the hard times every company has
a heart as hard times every company has
setbacks and it’s having that that that
mountain in the distance that you’re
trying to scale that is what gets
everybody through so I kind of like half
jokingly with with a lot of people say
that you know my job is basically like
to be to be the assistant for the rest
of the company like my job is to make
sure that like you have what you need
that it’s and and basically you have
everything you need to kick ass like
that’s my job if you don’t have that
then let me know because I’m not doing
my job
and what a leaders look like first and
foremost leaders always have a heard
people always like following leaders
maybe it’s their charisma maybe it’s
their personality maybe it’s because
they’re so in belief of what they say
that you have the ability to convince
people to buy into your vision not just
for a paycheck it’s something more than
that
because great leaders they don’t only
have a heard they fight for their heard
and the herd knows that that’s your job
as entrepreneurs these are not employees
that do your bidding
these are partners that you should bring
into your space and you should be
treated like that and they should be
treated like that with respect and with
dignity so many things go wrong when
you’re starting a company and often I
think people ask you know what mistakes
should you avoid making and you know my
answer that question is don’t even
bother trying to avoid mistakes because
you’re going to make tons of
stakes right and the the important thing
is actually learning quickly from
whatever mistakes you make and not
giving up right and I mean there are
things every single year of Facebook’s
existence that could have killed us or
made it so that it just seemed like
moving forward and making a lot of
progress just seemed intractable but you
just kind of bounce back and you learn
and nothing is impossible you just have
to kind of keep running through the
walls and so it’s not just about doing
focus groups it’s not just about you
know double-checking your vision it
really is about integrating this concept
of testing our ideas rigorously
throughout the product development
process out the marketing process even
as we scale up the most important thing
when you’re working on people really is
that you guys line up on and what your
goals are that’s that’s really that
sounds really basic but you can totally
it can be fine you can want to build a
small business that makes money and you
don’t have to go to an office or you can
want to build a huge company you can
want to build Google but I think you
have to be really really aligned on that
and I find even with myself that it’s
really hard to do a Minimum Viable
Product this minimum that you’re
constantly thinking no no it really has
to have this other partner it really has
to have this and then you over build and
then you have to unbilled and D build
which is very disappointing so doing a
Minimum Viable Product is really
important and it’s even more minimum
than you think it is so today you should
think okay my co-founders do we do we
cover a lot of surface area do we have
different skill sets and is it somebody
that that I trust fundamentally and
that’s those are really really really
important questions to ask yourself
because if so they give a really strong
foundation to go forward you have to
decide if you’re gonna be a slow-growth
company or get big fast company because
anytime you try to straddle those two
lines painful things happen to you if
you’re gonna start your own thing you
know maybe you have a grand grand vision
of like all the different features it’s
gonna have and all the different you
know revenue lines you’re gonna do and
you know keep keep that vision but do
one piece of that first and do it really
really really well it’s so much better
to do a few things well than many things
poorly what this all comes down to is
doing something exceptional for your
users whether it’s in community whether
it’s in connection or whether it’s in
design this is our big advantage as a
start-up is that we can actually get
away with doing this we can make this
the core part of why we’re doing
business and I can’t stress this enough
choosing your partners has got to be
maybe the most important decision you’ll
ever make whether you know personally
and loved or otherwise in business you
can change your idea you can pivot your
company you can’t change your partners
without starting over and so I see so
many people rushing into these
relationships I mean you should really
give that a lot of thought this is
something that hopefully all last years
you’re really trying to solve a new
problem in a different way you have to
come to problems with beginner’s mind
right not knowing something can be a
very powerful tool in to accomplishing
it because you don’t know that it’s not
possible that’s what doing a start-up is
not realizing that something is
impossible in doing it anyway but
ultimately the biggest thing and when I
spill still spend from a third to a
majority of my time on is hiring nothing
has the impact of getting the right
people around the table and you can’t
manage your way out of a bad team to
have the level of success that I want to
have it’s difficult to spread it out and
do multiple things you know it’s in
order to to be world-class and I made a
decision I want to be world-class and it
just it takes such a desperate obsessive
focus to to excel on a certain honor on
the level that I want to make movies you
know I was a Star Wars when I was young
i sat in the movie theater and watched
Star Wars and I just couldn’t believe
that that movie made me feel like that
just floored and just stunned by the
creativity and just I’m realizing that
in order to move people in that way in
order to touch people in that way you
really got to focus with all of your
fiber and all your heart and all your
creativity failure is part of life I
mean
the difference for me though is I’m like
a failure as a stepping stone to success
it’s a speed bump I know I’m gonna fail
but it’s not failure if you learn
something and so gosh I’ve made so many
mistakes I’ve screwed so many things out
but every time I do it just becomes it
becomes a way for me to explain to
someone else what it takes you know it’s
like here’s what I’ve done I think I
have the ability influence people
because I talk about my failures I talk
about all the things that messed me up
but I show people that didn’t let it
stop me and you only to stop you and I
think I think that’s really the secret
matter and if everything you touch was
successful first I got to relate to
people as much and also its be total
and everyone know it’s both and
also you’d be bored silly I mean think
about it if you just said I want this to
happen I want this to happen you know
people don’t value it they don’t fight
for you know it’s like you see kids
sometimes in it you know your parents
will say you’re not gonna value this if
you don’t work for it and you’re keeping
going oh well you just give it to me
yeah but it’s true you know about things
we’ve worked the hardest for we value
the most so I think you know the purpose
of the goal is not getting it anyway the
purpose of goal you know is what who you
become who you becomes gonna make you
happier it’s gonna make you sad so I’m
not looking for an effortless approach
there’s no such thing bigger is better
how many a glue agree with this okay if
you can live on nine hundred grand the
only people that won’t go to nine
million are the people that are selfish
unselfish people grow their businesses
selfish people don’t okay if you’re
taking notes if you’re gonna walk away
with something today I’m talking to the
able people here give me the name of a
great company that has seven employees
I’m waiting give me the name of a great
company that doesn’t spend a load of
money on advertising who is this company
tell me give me one name one name of any
see see you you built a business on a
fantasy right like I’m gonna get a stay
for I’m gonna get a stay for I’m gonna
get an all-state company imma imma be an
Allstate guy and I’m gonna make nine
hundred grand a year you’re selfish
folks see see what I’m saying about the
selfish person makes what they need the
unselfish person says I’m gonna make
more than I need
ESPN called me they did a story on me
this past summer but they called me one
day and I picked up the phone they said
is this inky johnson the last time I
checked I’m inky johnson they said is
this the same guy that said if you could
change what happened to you you wouldn’t
I said absolutely
they said it’s our understanding the
game of football meant the world I said
at one point it did they said it’s our
understanding that your family was
banking on you making it to the NFL
they can have a better way of life I
said yeah that’s that’s correct they
said we’re coming to see you I said
alright cool come on they said but we
don’t want to see you in Atlanta we want
to see you in Neyland Stadium on the
exact yard line where your life change
the same time of day the only thing that
won’t be present its Air Forces team all
right cool and so they take me to Nealon
Stadium they put me on the exact yard
line with my life chains they said now
tell your younger self why you wouldn’t
stop your injury if you could if you
could be in the NFL right now making
millions of dollars tell you young
yourself why you wouldn’t change that
situation if you could and let’s say the
reason I wouldn’t change it believe it
or not has nothing to do with me like on
a personal level you he thought I was
gonna say because of the man that I’ve
become the perspective that I’ve
acquired my faith that been fortified he
thought I was gonna say something like
that I said no it has nothing to do it
has everything to do with the lives that
have been affected by the result of the
process and the thing that I represent
in the world but my spirit represents
when somebody see me they think
perseverance well my spirit represents
where somebody see me they think don’t
quit what my spirit represents when
somebody see me they think SSSs that’s a
quality individual right there what my
character represents in the world and
every
they were putting something out like
that represent something when people see
that they thinks it’s a thought that
comes to the month when he said go
standing he gave me that I felt a
certain type of money but he gave me to
go stare I thought the certain type I
felt different gold standing with me
because not thinking what I do the line
of business I’m in I’m gonna gold
standard because I don’t compromise and
every single day I’m gonna give you my
very best you can bet your bottom dollar
every single day I’m gonna bring that
gold standard to life and I’m not just
bringing it in one aspect of life I’m
bringing it every single aspect of life
I’m not gonna be one of these people in
the world that’s a public success but
they’re private failure I mean they give
everything they got to one aspect of
life but the other areas they lack are
no I’m gonna give every single thing I
got to every aspect of my life because I
represent something when people see me
they think something whether that’s
character never givin up never surrender
and the thing that we can never do is
forget what we represent because that’s
how guys end up under bridge on a
cardboard box sleep they forget what
they represent when life hits him where
that person my only charge for you never
forget what you represent I spoke at an
education summit for Microsoft I also
spoke at an education summit for Apple
that’s a ssin from my at the education
summit for Microsoft I would say that
70% of the executives spent about 70% of
their presentations talking about how to
beat Apple at the Apple education summit
a hundred percent of the executives
spent a hundred percent of their
presentations talking about how to help
teachers teach and how to help students
learn one is playing this way and one is
playing that way one is playing finite
and the other one is playing infinite
so at the end of my talk at Microsoft
that gave me a gift they gave me the new
Zune when it was a thing and let me tell
you this thing was spectacular
it was the most elegant piece of
technology I’d ever used the user
interface was incredible the design was
spectacular
I absolutely loved it it was easy to use
and it was bright and gorgeous Infant it
didn’t work on iTunes which is a
different problem so I couldn’t use it
but but it was amazing and elegant my
god it was elegant
so I’m sitting in the back of a taxi
with a very senior Apple executive sort
of employee number 12 kind of guy and
you know I like to stir pots so I turned
him I said you know Microsoft gave me
their new Zune and it is so much better
than your iPod touch and he turned to me
and he said I have no tab conversation
over because the infinite player
understands sometimes your head and
sometimes your behind sometimes your
product is better and sometimes it’s
worse the goal isn’t to be the best
every day the goal isn’t out to outdo
your competition every day that’s a
finite construction if I had said to
Microsoft I’ve got the new iPod touch
and it’s so much better than your Zune
they would have said can we see it what
does it do react react react react
finite players play to be bet to beat
the people around them infinite players
play to be better than themselves to
wake up every single day and say how can
we make our company a better version of
itself today than it was yesterday how
can we create a product this week that’s
better than the product we created last
week we also have to play the infinite
game it’s not about being ranked number
one it’s not about having more followers
on Twitter than your friends it’s not
about outdoing anyone it’s about how to
outdo yourself it’s not about selling
more books or getting more 10 views than
somebody else it’s about
how to make sure that the work that
you’re producing is better than the work
you produced before you are your
competition and that is what ensures you
stay in the game the longest and that is
what ensures you find joy because the
joy comes not from comparison but from
advancement so this was something that
Portia Nelson who I knew who passed away
a few years back 10 years back now lived
up in Seattle and she had she was at a
autobiography of their life in five five
versus five chapters so and they gave
them only like cards this size actually
they were smaller than this they were
three by five cards so right out chapter
one of your life and just go to where
you are today and I remember doing this
very same thing but what she wrote was
so brilliant that I asked her daughter
if we could put it on public television
which I did in the most recent show and
we made a contribution to Porsha’s work
so this is what she wrote down in the
chapter five of her life chapter one she
said I walk down the street there’s a
deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in I’m
lost
I’m helpless it isn’t my fault and it
takes forever to find a way out
chapter two of my life I walked down the
same street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I pretend I don’t see it I fall
in again I can’t believe I’m in the same
place it isn’t my fault it still takes a
long time for me to get out chapter
three of my life I walk down the same
street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I see it there I still fall in
it’s a habit but my eyes are open I know
where I am and it is my own fault and I
get out immediately chapter four of my
life I walk down the same street there
was a deep hole in the sidewalk I walk
around it chapter five of my life
finally
I walked down another Street success is
something which has to be planned and
success is something which has to be
earned in advance true there is such a
thing as luck but just remember that
luck is something you can create for
yourself if you know the rules and
follow them just as I give them to you
remember too that success in the higher
brackets of achievement is something
that can be had only by taking others
along with you and the best definition
of success which I know is this success
is the knowledge with which to get
whatever you want from life without
violating the rights of others and by
helping others to acquire it if you’re
still saying that to yourself over and
over and over again and you’re
complaining it’s what you’re really good
at is ignoring your gut and so it’s time
to start tuning into your gut and making
some changes baby steps count – as long
as you’re going forward and one day you
had all those baby steps up in you might
be surprised at where you can get to but
more importantly I remember something my
mom used to say to me every day she
would say son the cavalry ain’t coming
you got to do this yourself ain’t no
backup okay and we put those two things
together man it wasn’t as hard to keep
going forward as you might think I
started with one employee
his name was grant cardone I’m doing and
so I heard right he passed a drug test I
believed in him and for 15 years I was
one guy and then one day I woke up a guy
actually I’m a mentor of mine said look
you can’t scale with just yourself you
got to start building a business here
you’re gonna have a real business you
need employees you need people you need
to be willing to hire people and I’m
like man man I’m scared they cost money
he’s like not making sales one two
or these empty desk that’s what skies to
moon okay that’s what’s costing you
money staying small is costing you money
all this cost money
I have failures here I have
disappointments I have discouragements I
have people that work here for a little
while and I quit but you’re not gonna get big by yourself
I learned from Steve Jobs is if you
believe in a Macintosh if you believe in
iPhone iPod iPad if you believe enough
then you will see it because other
people will believe in it other people
will create software other people will
create products so you need to foster
the belief in what you are dreaming so
that it becomes a reality which is very
different than saying I don’t expect
anybody to believe it until I see it you
need people to believe it before they
can see it because when you’re trying to
differentiate when you’re trying to do
something different there’s going to be
that gut moment that gut sense is this
right is this not right if you’re not if
you’re not having doubt you’re not
pushing the boundaries far enough don’t
necessarily think that you have to have
the homerun and the huge Apple Computer
on your first start I spent a long time
in my life with skills just building
little devices for fun for fun is one of
the key things does that drives you to
think and think and think and make it
better and better and better than you
ever would if you’re doing it for a
company build things at first for
yourself that you would want constantly
seek criticism a a wealth a
well-thought-out critique of whatever
you’re doing is as valuable as gold and
you should seek that from
everyone you can but particularly your
friends you want an idea about what you
can say I know it sounds like a bad idea
but here’s specifically why it’s
actually a great one you want to sound
crazy but you want to actually be right
don’t think about how do I get really
how do I get big fast that will happen
if you actually build something super
meaningful and super important so don’t
think about you know what is the
quickest way to success think about what
is the best way to building something
important that the world really needs
you know one way to conceptualize what
makes a good product is you know good
engineering is part of it good design is
part of it but really it’s one way I
think about it at least is maximizing
the probability that someone shows up at
the front door of you know your store or
your website or or whatever it is and
ends up with a solved problem what you
really need to do is think about what is
the smallest possible test that I can
run for this idea for this concept for
this theory get it out there and get
customers using it because your
customers are gonna be the ones to tell
you if it’s really working or not a lot
of people kind of mean they say well I
want to be an entrepreneur and I go
that’s great what’s your idea and they
go well I don’t have one yet and I say
well I think you should go get a job as
a busboy or something until you find
something you’re really passionate about
because it’s a lot of work and I’m
convinced that about half of what
separates the successful entrepreneurs
from the non successful ones is pure
perseverance it is so hard you pour so
much your life into this thing there are
such rough moments in time that most
people give up I don’t blame them it’s
really tough and it consumes your life I
mean if you’re if you’ve got a family
and you’re in the early days of a
company it’s I can’t imagine how one
could do it I’m sure it’s been done but
it’s rough I mean because it’s a pretty
much a you know an 18 hour day job seven
days a week for a while so unless you
have a lot of passion about this you’re
going to not survive you’re going to
give it up
so you got to have an idea of or a
problem or a wrong that you want to
write that you’re passionate about
otherwise you’re not going to have the
person
to stick it through and I think that’s
half the battle right there it’s hard to
remember how bad it was
you know in 1980s with IBM taking over
the world with the PC with Doss out
there it was it was far worse than the
Apple 2 and they tried to copy the Apple
2 and they done a pretty bad job and if
you needed to know a lot and so things
were kind of slipping backwards and
Macintosh was you saw the 1984
commercial you put that I hope you have
that in your archives
you know Macintosh was basically this
this relatively small company you know
in Cupertino California taking on the
Goliath IBM and saying wait a minute
your way is wrong this is not the way we
want computers to go this is not the
legacy we want to leave this is not what
we want our kids to be learning this is
wrong and we are going to show you the
right way to do it and here it is it’s
called Macintosh and this is so much
better that it’s gonna beat you and we
are gonna do it
and that’s what Apple stood for and if
you’re really trying to achieve
something then so to say hey here’s my
vision and I’d like to say be obstinate
about your vision but be really flexible
about your tactics what does that mean
it’s sort of like think big act small
what that means is it’s important to
have a vision of where you’re trying to
go how you get there is a series of
experiments now you can call them a
failure is when they don’t work but
they’re learning experiments where you
try things see what works try the next
thing there are no justified resentments
and this is a very difficult principle
for many people to get but one that I
believe very strongly in I was in a
group one time of drug addicts and
alcoholics
and I was one of the people that was a
sponsor and leading this group and the
sign on the wall said there are no
justified resentments in this group and
what I said to that group that that
night was no matter what anybody says to
you here no matter what kind of anger
comes directed towards you no matter how
much hate you may encounter showing up
in your life there are no justified
resentments meaning that if you carry
around resentment inside of you about
anything or about anyone and I’m talking
about the person that you lent money to
and hasn’t paid you back I’m talking
about the person in your life that you
feel was abusive in your life I’m
talking about the person who walked out
on you and left you for somebody else
I’m talking about all of the things that
you have justified in your heart and in
your life that you have the right to be
resentful about and I’m suggesting to
you that those resentments will always
end up harming you and creating in you a
sense of despair I’ve often said that
you no one ever dies from a snake bite a
snake bite will never kill you you
cannot be unbeaten once you’re bitten
you’re bitten but it’s the venom that
continues to pour through your system
after the bite that will end up
destroying you what are you gonna do
when you wake up and you feel lost you
feel less than you feel you feel a sense
of either depression or despair and no
direction what I do is this
I show up I show up man
buddy mine told me when I was hit
super low point in my life he said a man
show up even if your life’s if your eyes
are bleeding and your life is low show
up anyway show up for somebody aspiring
to you know take things to the next
level or to even surpass their wildest
dreams there’s always gonna have to be
an element of luck but I think more
important is putting yourself in a
business that can be ubiquitous that
that can that really doesn’t have limits
because otherwise there’s always going
to be a grind to it
but if the business if it can’t be
something that you can visualize every
business using or every consumer using
it’s gonna be tough to scale to be big
enough or to have the perceived value
this little idea explains why some
organizations and some leaders are able
to inspire where others aren’t let me
define the terms really quickly every
single person every single organization
on the planet knows what they do 100
percent some know how they do it when
you call it you’re differentiating value
proposition or your proprietary process
or your USP but very very few people or
organizations know why they do what they
do and by why I don’t mean to make a
profit that’s a result it’s always a
result by why I mean what’s your purpose
what’s your cause what’s your belief why
does your organization exist you know
there are a lot of things that are
outside of your control a lot of
external circumstances will depend like
determine the success of your idea
whether you know the market timings
right for this new kind of service or
whether people you know whether or
customer like the economy’s could write
for for your kind of service right
whether you meet the right people who
will finance your company many many
external circumstances are like outside
of your control and like but will affect
the outcome
you have to like be okay with that but
you know a lot of corporations have they
might call them core values or guiding
principles or so on but the problem is
usually they’re very lofty sounding they
kind of read like a press release the
marketing department put out they sound
just like their competitors and maybe
you learn about it on day one of your
job but then it becomes this meaningless
plaque on the lobby wall well we wanted
to come up with committable core values
and by committable meaning we’re willing
to hire or fire people based on those
values completely independent of their
actual job performance the definition of
values is they’re the behaviors or
principles that you religiously adhere
to within your company when we say
religious I mean that no amount of data
will sway you in it from from those
principles and the degree to which that
you have the courage to maintain your
conviction around those ideas is the
degree to which you’re going to be
successful over the long term
you can’t ever sort of balance two
completely contradictory things as a
means of hedging you have to decide what
are you going to believe in and put all
of your energy behind that and that’s
that’s the those are the kinds of
strategic decisions and trade-offs that
you make every day as an entrepreneur
and it’s important that you create the
level of clarity and conviction to go
after an opportunity that isn’t hedging
you know lots of different ideas or lots
of different approaches because that’s
the surest way that you’ll never be good
at it sort of anything I’m not saying
you shouldn’t have a vision for your
idea or your product but you need to be
open to changes we get to create any
company we want right we get to create
the reason for its existence we get to
create the rules of the game and who we
hire and how we hire them and who can
stay and who can stay right it’s it’s
beautiful and so I just would encourage
everyone that as we all contemplate life
to try to question the assumptions that
we live by and the default options that
are given to us and expand our thinking
to wonder what we really can’t do with
our lives and so when we see a kid with
a lemonade stand it’s different than
when we see a vending machine selling
lemonade even if it’s exactly the same
product because the story
around it is what people are paying for
so when I meet small businesspeople
all I ask them is not what’s their
balance sheet but what’s their story why
should I pick you why do I care about
what you’re doing
and if you start giving me all this
inside baseball statistics about why
you’re 2 percent better than some other
competitor I’m already glazed over
because that’s not part of the way I see
the world knew I was wired to be excited
about business how or why I don’t know
but you know and do certain guys they
have the genetics to jump out of the gym
right certain guys you know that
you know when they golf they have the
muscle memory and and the discipline you
know Dirk Nowitzki may not be the most
talented guy in the NBA but his
discipline and his focus to do what’s
necessary to be successful he’s willing
to do and combine it with being seven
feet tall and being skilled you know it
makes him an amazing basketball player
so it’s understanding what your skill
set is finding the right place to use
those skills and then going for it you
know will that make you 250 grand it
depends if you pick the right industry
but whatever industry you pick if you
outwork everybody if you try to be a
little smarter than everybody if you try
to be a better salesperson and everybody
if you try to be better prepared than
everybody you’ve got your best chance
because if you don’t do it and somebody
else does yeah I have the same work like
someone’s trying to take it all away
from you you know work you actually work
like no one’s spending 24 hours working
24 hours to take it all away from you in
and that’s kind of the way I look at it
and I remember asking my dad to I want a
new basketball shoes because that was a
basketball junkie back then he’s like
well your shoes work if you want a new
pair of tennis shoes you have to go out
there and get a job and I’m like dad I’m
12 years old and it’s just so happens he
was playing poker with his buddies and
one of his buddies just like well I got
a job for you you I’ve got these garbage
bags that we distribute you could sell
them door-to-door I’m like okay and it
was when I was selling them and realized
that I’d like to sell and that I could
sell and that I recognized that selling
was was about providing a service and
creating value for people that I knew
that I would literally back then
I knew that I could always succeed I
mean I remember I was 16 I think when I
started a stamp company and started
going to stamp shows and trade shows and
just working a little bit harder than
other people and and trading up from one
stamp to the next I remember one time I
started with a quarter and bought a
stamp and left with $50 thinking hey if
I can do this I could do anything and
and it’s not that everything worked I
failed a lot but I never ever felt like
I I wouldn’t be able to work hard enough
to say that I have to want this to exist
in the world I have to not so it’s a
similar rule just say if this was
successful and I had nothing and I got
no and I was not involved and I got no
money off it or wasn’t what I wanted to
do well and that’s a great check I think
to know if you really feel good about
the idea and can be passionate about it
the hardest thing to do is start you
have all these ideas and everyone has an
idea but it’s really about executing the
idea and building the idea and
attracting other people to help you work
on the idea that is the biggest
challenge but the way to begin is to get
the idea out of your head draw it out
you know talk about it program it if
you’re a programmer or make it if you’re
building something and oftentimes the
best methodology is to start with the
perfect experience of just one person
get that right and then figure out how
to scale something great instead of
scales I mean not so great and then
trying to improve it that’s really hard
to do and so I think when you are
starting a new business you uh you don’t
want to go after giant markets you want
to go after small markets and you want
to take over those markets quickly like
you don’t have to be the best but you
have to be dangerous right you have to
learn just enough to be dangerous to
build an idea concept it and show it to
the world and then it turns out there
are lots of other people including all
170 employees that work at Instagram who
are much better at doing all that stuff
than I am but you’d need to find people
who can you know be drawn to the idea
that you build and and then they end up
taking it and and make it even better
I think you should be spending your
money on on on teaching and sharing
that might mean hiring a writer too
perhaps instead of a marketing person
you know and start writing and start
getting people to listen to what you’re
saying you can’t talk about yourself all
the time because I was going to come
back for that we get to talk about
things that are relevant to your
industry or ideas that you have and
start to build that audience up if
you’re not utilizing an online community
then you’re at a disadvantage to those
who are you can be asking online
community that’s what they think about
your ideas or if they have any advice
with what you’re working on not only
will you hear from people who are
passionate about the subject but you’ll
be hearing from people all around the
world each with their own experiences
and stories that can help you and there
are a lot of people from whom we can
learn a lot and I think like you know
the one piece of advice is like don’t
underestimate anyone you come across
everybody like whether they’re you know
a blue collar worker waiting for the bus
or they’re you know helping you at your
they’re the server a bartender at the
restaurant or they’re a lower-ranking
employee I mean the smartest leaders
I’ve ever seen have always gone around
the room and asked for everybody’s
opinion people really love simplicity so
if you look at the problems with large
software like Microsoft Office every
feature in Microsoft Office somebody
wanted at some time but what happens is
over 10 or 20 years the thing gets so
huge it’s overwhelming so the discipline
of great product design is to figure out
what are the important cases for the
long term and to have the discipline to
say no to some things that are good it’s
easy to say no to things that are bad
but great product design is saying no to
some things that are good in my mind as
I think about this idea of getting what
you really want and being able to
attract it into your life
what what what we have to look at is
basically the obstacles that we have
conditioned ourselves and you notice I
say that we have conditioned ourselves
because I have never believed that we
need to be putting the responsibility on
someone else if you’re conditioned it’s
because you have allowed yourself to
become that and if we are conditioned if
we conditioned ourselves to believe
certain kinds of things and one of the
things that we kind of believe
even hang on to and live with is this
whole idea that all of the things that
happened to me in my past are what are
keeping me from doing what I’d like to
do today so we hang on to these things
and we fill ourselves with blame is they
I’m the middle child I’m the youngest
child I’m the oldest child I’m an only
child any one of those is a great excuse
you know if you’re the youngest child
you can say well you know I never how
could I be making decisions for myself
and be a full look for a fully
functioning person today when I always
had somebody else telling me what to do
my whole life how could I think for
myself if you’re the oldest child you
can simply say to yourself well how
could I be expected to think for myself
I always had to think for somebody else
I was always doing it for somebody else
and that leaves the middle child
you know the classic identity crisis oh
poor me my mother didn’t even know my
name she’s always calling me by this
one’s name but that one’s name so I
don’t know where I fit in
so that take care of everybody except
the only child and of course the only
child well your parents looked at you
and said we won’t be doing that again
you have to live with that I don’t I so
everybody with their birth order or with
their mother like their sister better or
that we had enough but we didn’t have
enough and we had too much or we lived
in the north we lived in the south I’m
too tall I’m too short I’ve got too much
hair I don’t have enough hair it’s
falling out it’s not falling out
whatever it is we all have these excuses
and I call all of these things that we
hang on to and use to keep ourselves
from reaching these higher places in our
lives the wake I call it the wake and
the wake
is comes from a story that I heard Alan
Watts tell one time it was a very
powerful story he said your life is like
a boat and it’s heading up the river
let’s say 40 knots and as it’s going you
are somehow able to metaphorically stand
on the stern the back of the boat and
look down into the water now there goes
your life in this direction and you’re
standing here and you’re looking down
into the water and you ask yourself
these three questions the first question
what is the wake what is it what is this
thing that you see and the answer the
wake is the trail that is left behind
that’s what it is nothing more nothing
less
it’s the trail that is left behind
second question to ask yourself in this
little metaphor what’s driving the boat
what’s making this thing go in this
direction
the answer the present moment energy
that’s being generated by the engine and
nothing more
that’s the only thing that’s making the
boat go in this direction and in this
little scene this means it’s the present
moment thoughts that I have and how I am
using them that is making my life go in
this direction and nothing more because
the third question is the most important
and powerful question and I’ve ever ever
since I heard it I’ve always thought
about this whenever I have a tendency to
look back here and blame something is it
possible for the wake to drive the boat
that is Hannah trail that is left behind
make a boat go in this direction and of
course the answer to that is no it can’t
it’s just a trail that is left behind
and in that trail there are an enormous
number of things that every one of us
has awake and we have a whole lot of
stuff in it and one of the problems that
we have is that we have a tendency to
look at the wake and all of the stuff
that’s in it to explain why it is my
life isn’t working the way I would like
it to work how do you think about making
a decision when everyone tells you this
is a crazy idea where do you get the
internal strength to do that well first
of all I’d say I actually think I feel
feel fair quite strongly so it’s not as
though I just have the absence of fear
I’ve I feel it quite strongly but there
are times when if something is important
enough you believe in it enough that you
do it in spite of the fear so speaking
of important things like people
shouldn’t think III I should think well
I feel fear about this and therefore I
shouldn’t do it it’s normal to feel to
feel fear like you’d have to definitely
something mentally wrong you shouldn’t
feel fear
so you just feel it and let the
importance of it anyway yeah you know
actually something that can be helpful
as fatalism some degree if you just
think if just accept the probabilities
then that diminishes fear so my starting
SpaceX I thought the odds of success
were less than 10% and I just accepted
that actually probably I would just lose
lose everything
but that maybe would make some progress
if we could just move the ball forward
even if we died maybe some other company
could pick up the baton and move and
keep moving forward so that were still
do some good
yeah same with Tesla I thought your odds
of a car company succeeding were
extremely low I do think that one thing
that’s important is especially if you’re
a founder or a technical founder is to
realize that you can’t do everything and
even if you can you shouldn’t values are
who you are right you don’t have
personal values professional values it’s
really what you stand for and again
there’s no black and white answer here
there’s no right or wrong value but if
you’re building a team or building an
organization you want to understand your
identity and then it mostly impacts
hiring it impacts the way that you
decide to add people to your team
otherwise you can become very very split
in terms of what your mission is so
there are a number of decisions that we
make every day and on a product side
there are billion different features
that we could make so the hard part is
really choosing which ones to focus on
which ones to build and you only have a
finite number that you can’t actually
execute on so for us a lot of it is just
listening to the community and more
importantly understanding you know what
features they’re asking for but why are
they asking for these specific things
what’s the root problem they’re trying
to solve or goal that you’re trying to
achieve and a lot of that is based on
actual behaviors so not just what they
say but what they do you should find a
great partner no matter what it is that
you’re doing and you should look for
someone who is very high intelligence
very high energy and very high integrity
and you need all three of those you
can’t compromise on any one of them
otherwise you’ll end up with either
someone was not smart which is you know
good or someone’s not hard-working which
also doesn’t know good or the worst case
is you end up with smart hard-working
crook who ends up working against your
interests and integrity something that
takes a lot of time spent with someone
to figure out
generally speaking you should resist the
temptation of having too many features
it’s all about either solving a problem
or providing a value to a user one of
the things I advise entrepreneurs to do
is when you have an idea a classic
entrepreneurial impulse is to hold the
idea close to you and not go tell you
because all the idea is so special right
that’s almost always a mistake and go
talk to why is that a mistake yeah it’s
a mistake because your actual real
competitive advantage is not that you
have this idea that you have locked away
in your closet which may or may not be
actor
you have no idea which it is your actual
competitive advantages if you’re
assembling the intelligence around does
this idea work what is the right team
what is the right learnings and we’re
essentially in motion most startups that
fail do it ultimately because they did
not make something that people wanted
they made something that you know that
they thought people would want but they
were either in denial about it about you
know whether it was actually any good or
somebody else came along and made
something that people wanted even more
everybody thought we were crazy we
probably were crazy but having a dream
like that that resonates with people
changing the world achieving something
big it turns out that’s what pulls you
through the hard times every company has
a heart as hard times every company has
setbacks and it’s having that that that
mountain in the distance that you’re
trying to scale that is what gets
everybody through so I kind of like half
jokingly with with a lot of people say
that you know my job is basically like
to be to be the assistant for the rest
of the company like my job is to make
sure that like you have what you need
that it’s and and basically you have
everything you need to kick ass like
that’s my job if you don’t have that
then let me know because I’m not doing
my job
and what a leaders look like first and
foremost leaders always have a heard
people always like following leaders
maybe it’s their charisma maybe it’s
their personality maybe it’s because
they’re so in belief of what they say
that you have the ability to convince
people to buy into your vision not just
for a paycheck it’s something more than
that
because great leaders they don’t only
have a heard they fight for their heard
and the herd knows that that’s your job
as entrepreneurs these are not employees
that do your bidding
these are partners that you should bring
into your space and you should be
treated like that and they should be
treated like that with respect and with
dignity so many things go wrong when
you’re starting a company and often I
think people ask you know what mistakes
should you avoid making and you know my
answer that question is don’t even
bother trying to avoid mistakes because
you’re going to make tons of
stakes right and the the important thing
is actually learning quickly from
whatever mistakes you make and not
giving up right and I mean there are
things every single year of Facebook’s
existence that could have killed us or
made it so that it just seemed like
moving forward and making a lot of
progress just seemed intractable but you
just kind of bounce back and you learn
and nothing is impossible you just have
to kind of keep running through the
walls and so it’s not just about doing
focus groups it’s not just about you
know double-checking your vision it
really is about integrating this concept
of testing our ideas rigorously
throughout the product development
process out the marketing process even
as we scale up the most important thing
when you’re working on people really is
that you guys line up on and what your
goals are that’s that’s really that
sounds really basic but you can totally
it can be fine you can want to build a
small business that makes money and you
don’t have to go to an office or you can
want to build a huge company you can
want to build Google but I think you
have to be really really aligned on that
and I find even with myself that it’s
really hard to do a Minimum Viable
Product this minimum that you’re
constantly thinking no no it really has
to have this other partner it really has
to have this and then you over build and
then you have to unbilled and D build
which is very disappointing so doing a
Minimum Viable Product is really
important and it’s even more minimum
than you think it is so today you should
think okay my co-founders do we do we
cover a lot of surface area do we have
different skill sets and is it somebody
that that I trust fundamentally and
that’s those are really really really
important questions to ask yourself
because if so they give a really strong
foundation to go forward you have to
decide if you’re gonna be a slow-growth
company or get big fast company because
anytime you try to straddle those two
lines painful things happen to you if
you’re gonna start your own thing you
know maybe you have a grand grand vision
of like all the different features it’s
gonna have and all the different you
know revenue lines you’re gonna do and
you know keep keep that vision but do
one piece of that first and do it really
really really well it’s so much better
to do a few things well than many things
poorly what this all comes down to is
doing something exceptional for your
users whether it’s in community whether
it’s in connection or whether it’s in
design this is our big advantage as a
start-up is that we can actually get
away with doing this we can make this
the core part of why we’re doing
business and I can’t stress this enough
choosing your partners has got to be
maybe the most important decision you’ll
ever make whether you know personally
and loved or otherwise in business you
can change your idea you can pivot your
company you can’t change your partners
without starting over and so I see so
many people rushing into these
relationships I mean you should really
give that a lot of thought this is
something that hopefully all last years
you’re really trying to solve a new
problem in a different way you have to
come to problems with beginner’s mind
right not knowing something can be a
very powerful tool in to accomplishing
it because you don’t know that it’s not
possible that’s what doing a start-up is
not realizing that something is
impossible in doing it anyway but
ultimately the biggest thing and when I
spill still spend from a third to a
majority of my time on is hiring nothing
has the impact of getting the right
people around the table and you can’t
manage your way out of a bad team to
have the level of success that I want to
have it’s difficult to spread it out and
do multiple things you know it’s in
order to to be world-class and I made a
decision I want to be world-class and it
just it takes such a desperate obsessive
focus to to excel on a certain honor on
the level that I want to make movies you
know I was a Star Wars when I was young
i sat in the movie theater and watched
Star Wars and I just couldn’t believe
that that movie made me feel like that
just floored and just stunned by the
creativity and just I’m realizing that
in order to move people in that way in
order to touch people in that way you
really got to focus with all of your
fiber and all your heart and all your
creativity failure is part of life I
mean
the difference for me though is I’m like
a failure as a stepping stone to success
it’s a speed bump I know I’m gonna fail
but it’s not failure if you learn
something and so gosh I’ve made so many
mistakes I’ve screwed so many things out
but every time I do it just becomes it
becomes a way for me to explain to
someone else what it takes you know it’s
like here’s what I’ve done I think I
have the ability influence people
because I talk about my failures I talk
about all the things that messed me up
but I show people that didn’t let it
stop me and you only to stop you and I
think I think that’s really the secret
matter and if everything you touch was
successful first I got to relate to
people as much and also its be total
and everyone know it’s both and
also you’d be bored silly I mean think
about it if you just said I want this to
happen I want this to happen you know
people don’t value it they don’t fight
for you know it’s like you see kids
sometimes in it you know your parents
will say you’re not gonna value this if
you don’t work for it and you’re keeping
going oh well you just give it to me
yeah but it’s true you know about things
we’ve worked the hardest for we value
the most so I think you know the purpose
of the goal is not getting it anyway the
purpose of goal you know is what who you
become who you becomes gonna make you
happier it’s gonna make you sad so I’m
not looking for an effortless approach
there’s no such thing bigger is better
how many a glue agree with this okay if
you can live on nine hundred grand the
only people that won’t go to nine
million are the people that are selfish
unselfish people grow their businesses
selfish people don’t okay if you’re
taking notes if you’re gonna walk away
with something today I’m talking to the
able people here give me the name of a
great company that has seven employees
I’m waiting give me the name of a great
company that doesn’t spend a load of
money on advertising who is this company
tell me give me one name one name of any
see see you you built a business on a
fantasy right like I’m gonna get a stay
for I’m gonna get a stay for I’m gonna
get an all-state company imma imma be an
Allstate guy and I’m gonna make nine
hundred grand a year you’re selfish
folks see see what I’m saying about the
selfish person makes what they need the
unselfish person says I’m gonna make
more than I need
ESPN called me they did a story on me
this past summer but they called me one
day and I picked up the phone they said
is this inky johnson the last time I
checked I’m inky johnson they said is
this the same guy that said if you could
change what happened to you you wouldn’t
I said absolutely
they said it’s our understanding the
game of football meant the world I said
at one point it did they said it’s our
understanding that your family was
banking on you making it to the NFL
they can have a better way of life I
said yeah that’s that’s correct they
said we’re coming to see you I said
alright cool come on they said but we
don’t want to see you in Atlanta we want
to see you in Neyland Stadium on the
exact yard line where your life change
the same time of day the only thing that
won’t be present its Air Forces team all
right cool and so they take me to Nealon
Stadium they put me on the exact yard
line with my life chains they said now
tell your younger self why you wouldn’t
stop your injury if you could if you
could be in the NFL right now making
millions of dollars tell you young
yourself why you wouldn’t change that
situation if you could and let’s say the
reason I wouldn’t change it believe it
or not has nothing to do with me like on
a personal level you he thought I was
gonna say because of the man that I’ve
become the perspective that I’ve
acquired my faith that been fortified he
thought I was gonna say something like
that I said no it has nothing to do it
has everything to do with the lives that
have been affected by the result of the
process and the thing that I represent
in the world but my spirit represents
when somebody see me they think
perseverance well my spirit represents
where somebody see me they think don’t
quit what my spirit represents when
somebody see me they think SSSs that’s a
quality individual right there what my
character represents in the world and
every
they were putting something out like
that represent something when people see
that they thinks it’s a thought that
comes to the month when he said go
standing he gave me that I felt a
certain type of money but he gave me to
go stare I thought the certain type I
felt different gold standing with me
because not thinking what I do the line
of business I’m in I’m gonna gold
standard because I don’t compromise and
every single day I’m gonna give you my
very best you can bet your bottom dollar
every single day I’m gonna bring that
gold standard to life and I’m not just
bringing it in one aspect of life I’m
bringing it every single aspect of life
I’m not gonna be one of these people in
the world that’s a public success but
they’re private failure I mean they give
everything they got to one aspect of
life but the other areas they lack are
no I’m gonna give every single thing I
got to every aspect of my life because I
represent something when people see me
they think something whether that’s
character never givin up never surrender
and the thing that we can never do is
forget what we represent because that’s
how guys end up under bridge on a
cardboard box sleep they forget what
they represent when life hits him where
that person my only charge for you never
forget what you represent I spoke at an
education summit for Microsoft I also
spoke at an education summit for Apple
that’s a ssin from my at the education
summit for Microsoft I would say that
70% of the executives spent about 70% of
their presentations talking about how to
beat Apple at the Apple education summit
a hundred percent of the executives
spent a hundred percent of their
presentations talking about how to help
teachers teach and how to help students
learn one is playing this way and one is
playing that way one is playing finite
and the other one is playing infinite
so at the end of my talk at Microsoft
that gave me a gift they gave me the new
Zune when it was a thing and let me tell
you this thing was spectacular
it was the most elegant piece of
technology I’d ever used the user
interface was incredible the design was
spectacular
I absolutely loved it it was easy to use
and it was bright and gorgeous Infant it
didn’t work on iTunes which is a
different problem so I couldn’t use it
but but it was amazing and elegant my
god it was elegant
so I’m sitting in the back of a taxi
with a very senior Apple executive sort
of employee number 12 kind of guy and
you know I like to stir pots so I turned
him I said you know Microsoft gave me
their new Zune and it is so much better
than your iPod touch and he turned to me
and he said I have no tab conversation
over because the infinite player
understands sometimes your head and
sometimes your behind sometimes your
product is better and sometimes it’s
worse the goal isn’t to be the best
every day the goal isn’t out to outdo
your competition every day that’s a
finite construction if I had said to
Microsoft I’ve got the new iPod touch
and it’s so much better than your Zune
they would have said can we see it what
does it do react react react react
finite players play to be bet to beat
the people around them infinite players
play to be better than themselves to
wake up every single day and say how can
we make our company a better version of
itself today than it was yesterday how
can we create a product this week that’s
better than the product we created last
week we also have to play the infinite
game it’s not about being ranked number
one it’s not about having more followers
on Twitter than your friends it’s not
about outdoing anyone it’s about how to
outdo yourself it’s not about selling
more books or getting more 10 views than
somebody else it’s about
how to make sure that the work that
you’re producing is better than the work
you produced before you are your
competition and that is what ensures you
stay in the game the longest and that is
what ensures you find joy because the
joy comes not from comparison but from
advancement so this was something that
Portia Nelson who I knew who passed away
a few years back 10 years back now lived
up in Seattle and she had she was at a
autobiography of their life in five five
versus five chapters so and they gave
them only like cards this size actually
they were smaller than this they were
three by five cards so right out chapter
one of your life and just go to where
you are today and I remember doing this
very same thing but what she wrote was
so brilliant that I asked her daughter
if we could put it on public television
which I did in the most recent show and
we made a contribution to Porsha’s work
so this is what she wrote down in the
chapter five of her life chapter one she
said I walk down the street there’s a
deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in I’m
lost
I’m helpless it isn’t my fault and it
takes forever to find a way out
chapter two of my life I walked down the
same street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I pretend I don’t see it I fall
in again I can’t believe I’m in the same
place it isn’t my fault it still takes a
long time for me to get out chapter
three of my life I walk down the same
street there’s a deep hole in the
sidewalk I see it there I still fall in
it’s a habit but my eyes are open I know
where I am and it is my own fault and I
get out immediately chapter four of my
life I walk down the same street there
was a deep hole in the sidewalk I walk
around it chapter five of my life
finally
I walked down another Street success is
something which has to be planned and
success is something which has to be
earned in advance true there is such a
thing as luck but just remember that
luck is something you can create for
yourself if you know the rules and
follow them just as I give them to you
remember too that success in the higher
brackets of achievement is something
that can be had only by taking others
along with you and the best definition
of success which I know is this success
is the knowledge with which to get
whatever you want from life without
violating the rights of others and by
helping others to acquire it if you’re
still saying that to yourself over and
over and over again and you’re
complaining it’s what you’re really good
at is ignoring your gut and so it’s time
to start tuning into your gut and making
some changes baby steps count – as long
as you’re going forward and one day you
had all those baby steps up in you might
be surprised at where you can get to but
more importantly I remember something my
mom used to say to me every day she
would say son the cavalry ain’t coming
you got to do this yourself ain’t no
backup okay and we put those two things
together man it wasn’t as hard to keep
going forward as you might think I
started with one employee
his name was grant cardone I’m doing and
so I heard right he passed a drug test I
believed in him and for 15 years I was
one guy and then one day I woke up a guy
actually I’m a mentor of mine said look
you can’t scale with just yourself you
got to start building a business here
you’re gonna have a real business you
need employees you need people you need
to be willing to hire people and I’m
like man man I’m scared they cost money
he’s like not making sales one two
or these empty desk that’s what skies to
moon okay that’s what’s costing you
money staying small is costing you money
all this cost money
I have failures here I have
disappointments I have discouragements I
have people that work here for a little
while and I quit but you’re not gonna get big by yourself
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